Abstract

An Integrated Model for Supplier Quality Evaluation
Aqeel Asaad Al Salem
Supplier quality evaluation is a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem that involves multiple, heterogeneous criteria of different weights. The literature addresses quality, delivery, technology, value and service as the five most common criteria used for supplier quality evaluation. In this thesis, we have considered the most important criteria for evaluating the quality of suppliers based on a review of the literature and observation in practice. They include both qualitative and quantitative criteria to reflect the real attributes of the supplier in question, and are applied in a supplier quality evaluation performed for a large data set.
We propose a three-stage model for performing supplier quality evaluation. In the first stage, we identify the evaluation criteria and assign a weight to each criterion. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) technique is used in this stage. In the second stage, we address the large size of suppliers’ datasets and present a cluster-analysis-based approach to obtain manageable supplier datasets for evaluation purposes. In the third stage, we apply the VIKOR method to evaluate supplier quality in the clusters obtained from the previous stage. A numerical application is provided to demonstrate the proposed approach.
The strength of the proposed model lies in the integrated application of the three techniques, in which each technique is best suited for its respective problem. The model’s other chief advantage
is its ability to deal efficiently with the challenge of evaluating large numbers of suppliers and the data pertaining to their attributes.